Brotherhood Alliance Speaker raises human trafficking News, sports, jobs

The main speaker Korin Moon-Gardner speaks to the participants of the 68th annual banquet for Brotherhood Alliance Awards in Lycoming. Jessica Watson/Sun Gazette Correspondent

The Lycoming County Brotherhood Alliance has recently organized its 68th annual banquet and award line ceremony, and this year's keynote spokesman emphasized the very real dangers of human trafficking in the community, some most hidden at home.

Korin Moon-Gardner, special prosecutor of Lycoming County, founder of Lantern Rescue, an organization that wants to help victims of sexual exploitation and sex trade from all over the world and rebuilt her life about five years ago.

Moongardner, a Russian translator at the US Marine Corps, founded Lantern Rescue, after being aware that many other organizations that combat human trafficking concentrate on simply saving victims without leaving resources to fight the problem.

“We wanted to go to the local communities and teach them how to make these rescues so that they can do rescue workers all over the world in Williamsport,” she said.

“We travel around the world, train the law enforcement agencies, judges and prosecutors about what human trafficking is, how to better examine them, and we work with aftercare facilities to look after the victims in the recovery process,” said Moon-Gardner.

She then turned to dispel the misunderstanding that human trafficking had to kidnap.

“We have saved over 2,800 victims in the past five years, and less than 1% of them have been the victims of kidnappings,” said Moon-Gardner of the crowd.

“I draw this distinction because I want everyone to understand in this room that their children, their grandchildren, their friends, people, people who see them in the grocery store could be a victim of human trafficking. Just because they are not missing does not mean that they are not a victim.”

“What is different about Lycoming County is that we focus on ensuring that these victims are found and that these crimes are persecuted. So we are not particularly in the sense that we have more human trafficking, but in a way we are something special in the sense that our community takes care of it,” she said.

“It will not be a kidnapping here either. Human dealers do not want to deal with stolen goods,” she said, declaring that human retailers often use nursing tactics to reach their final goal with the victims.

“You will usually start your time and groom victims over a long period of time, sometimes personally, and you will take care of them over a long period of time, develop a relationship, develop trust and slowly start isolating them from their family and friends. Slowly to demand little favors. Explained Moon-Gardner.

“Sometimes this is through a device by simply producing children's pornography in their own houses on the instructions of other people or going to the houses of other people in the community, simply passing over, say they go to a friend of a friend or sports practice, and they will meet with an older friend and then come home with their parents for dinner,” she said and emphasized that the situation is not hopeless.

Everyone plays a role to play human trafficking, be it through time to hear themselves during the conversations with relatives and strangers, to sharpen awareness through social media or simply to inform more about the crime, emphasized Moon-Gardner.

“Someone said during the introduction that we can improve our community life after another, and that is the truthful statement that I have ever heard,” said Moon-Gardner.

“The reality is that there are 28 million victims of human trafficking today. We need everyone in this struggle, who really takes care of it and looks around and really sees people as they are and what is going on without only talking on surface level,” she said.

“The greatest risk for children in America today for human trafficking is that they are on their mobile devices. For many children who are traded in the USA today, this situation begins and sometimes ends the hallway from their parents on their device,” emphasized Moon-Gardner.

“Talking to your children. Talk about what is on your phone, talk about the social media you are in,” she said.

Build up relationships and build trust, because at the end of the day it doesn't matter how many blocks you have on the phone, children can handle, and if something bad happens, you will be afraid to tell you about it, ”she said.

“That does not mean that you have no control over the phones, but a relationship that is set up in such a way that if you do something you know that you don't get a strange message that you are comfortable enough to talk to you, because unfortunately you end up with some of these situations that end in the sharpness of children, if you suffer with a suffering, with the suffering, with the suffering. They have with the suffering, the suffering range.

“Everyone should always be aware of their surroundings, but the risk is not in the parking lot. The risk lies in her house when he closes this bedroom door and no longer speak to them, have these relationships and communicate with them,” she emphasized.

“I really want to emphasize that they can all do something about it. Each one of them can make a difference,” said Moon-Gardner of the crowd.

“You have no idea who stands in front of you and who could influence you. Over the years, so many victims testify that a bus driver is the first person who has found that a waitress in a restaurant is the first person who has identified that something was wrong,” she said.

“Look around, always know your surroundings, know who is around you, and actually take care of each other, not only when we are in such rooms, but when we leave this room, who you are,” she asked.

“We shouldn't just try to live a life for ourselves, but our communities,” concluded Moon-Gardner.